Drillers Fall One Run Short in Road Trip Finale

SPRINGFIELD, MO – A winning road series in Springfield for the Tulsa Drillers came to a disappointing end Sunday night with a 10-9 loss to the Cardinals at Hammons Field. Despite the defeat, the Drillers did take the six-game series four games to two, winning four straight games after dropping the opener.

Tulsa will have a day off on Monday before beginning a six-game series with Wichita Tuesday night at ONEOK Field in the resumption of the Propeller Series. The six-game set will be important on two fronts for the Drillers. They now trail the Wind Surge by four games in the battle for a postseason berth. In addition, the two teams are tied at nine wins each in the Propeller Series. The winner of the season-long series between the two close rivals will be presented with the Propeller Trophy by Coors Light.

Sunday’s loss came despite the Drillers getting 11 hits and scoring 7 runs against St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Miles Mikolas over the first 5.2 third innings.

It was a tough night for Tulsa pitchers. The Cardinals scored their 10 runs on 12 hits, as Drillers pitchers allowed runs in each of the first six innings.

Offensively, the Drillers had 16 hits, including three home runs.

Two of those came in a three-run second inning. After the Cardinals took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first, Ryan Noda put Tulsa in front with a two-run homer, his team-leading 20th of the season.

Jacob Amaya followed with his 11th home run to give Tulsa a two-run lead.

After the Redbirds tied the game with a pair of runs in the bottom of the second, Michael Busch put the Drillers back in front in the third with a two-run homer, his 13th of the year.

The Cardinals again answered, scoring four times in the bottom half of the third to go in front 7-5. But, the Drillers continued to make things tough on Mikolas and tied the game in the top of the fourth on run-scoring hits from Clayton Daniel and James Outman.

Springfield plated single runs over the next three innings to take a 10-7 lead. The run in the sixth epitomized the night for Tulsa pitchers. Delvin Perez, who entered the game with just 1 hit in 20 at-bats in the series, singled. Perez raced to third on a wild pickoff attempt before scoring on a wild pitch.

It would prove to be the winning run as the Drillers made things interesting in the ninth. With one out, Daniel and Outman singled. A throwing error from Springfield pitcher Tyler Pyke brought Daniel home and put the potential game-tying runs on base.

Jacob Bosiokovic came on and struck out Miguel Vargas on three pitches before Justin Yurchak singled to plate Outman and cut the deficit to one run. But, Bosiokovic got a called strike three strikeout of Hunter Feduccia to end the game and leave the Drillers one run short.

THE HIGHLIGHTS

*Outman finished with three hits in the game and extended his hitting streak to eight straight games. In addition, he has now reached base safely in 18 straight games.

*Yurchak has now hit safely in five straight games, recording multi hits in four of the five.

*Cyrillo Watson and Mark Washington were the lone pitching bright spots for the Drillers. Watson worked 1.1 scoreless innings, while Washington worked a 1-2-3 eighth. It was the fourth straight scoreless appearance for Washington, spanning 7.0 innings.

*The final pitching line for Mikolas was 5.2 innings pitched, 11 hits and 7 runs allowed, with 2 walks and 4 strikeouts.

UP NEXT

Wichita at Tulsa on Tuesday, August 10 at 7:05 p.m. at ONEOK Field.
It will be the opening game of a six-game series with the Wind Surge and of an important 12-game homestand for the Drillers.